With all honesty, waking up knowing that it might be the last time I saw many of my new friends on Wednesday and Thursday was one of the saddest moments of my life and leaving Robert, BJ, and Krista behind in Churchill, Manitoba wasn’t any easier! After breakfast Wednesday morning we got into the buggy for the last time, and headed back into town for lunch at Gypsy’s and then a quick stop at the tundra buggy lodge gift shop before we headed for the airport. When we got to the airport we unloaded our luggage and headed in to get our tickets for the calm air flight. As soon as it finally kicked in that I was really leaving this majestic place and leaving new family behind, I began to cry. All of my new family members (fellow ambassadors and adult facilitators) quickly came to my rescue and explained to me that this would not be the last time that I would be seeing them and there are going to be many alumni opportunities for us to see each other. The thought that there would be opportunities for us to all see each other somewhat calmed my mood, but the thought that I may never see the beautiful landscape of this region ever again did not.

After lots of hugs by everyone Molly Alves and my self walked together to the plane, both of us still in tears. The Plane left on time (6:30) and was in the air for less than an hour and a half before it was time to land at our connecting airport (Thompson Airport, Manitoba). Getting off the plane at the Thompson Airport was not nearly as hard as getting on the plane in Churchill only because at that point I was focused on having fun with everyone else in the small amount of time we had left together! Before we knew it our plane had left the Thompson Airport and were already arriving in Winnipeg. At the Winnipeg Airport we picked up our luggage and headed across the street to the Four Points Sheridan Airport hotel, and were assigned our rooms. To make the best of the time we had left together we all decided that we were going to order room service and hang out in Katya’s Room. We spent a good two to three hours eating and talking before Katie Billing and I decide that it was about time for us to head back to our own room and “hit the hay”.

Thursday morning was definitely another emotional morning. At breakfast everyone said their goodbyes and departed for their own separate flights teary eyed. When everyone was gone Bill, one of our adult facilitators, took Erica Wills and I to the mall and the Winnipeg Zoo because we were the last two to leave Winnipeg and had about 4 hours of free time with nothing to do. I cannot express with word how grateful I am to Bill for being so generous and taking us around Winnipeg to further enhance our PBI experience when he could have been spending time with his family (who he hadn’t seen in a week!).

All I have left to say is, Thank you so much PBI, Hudson Bay Helicopters, Tundra Buggy Lodge, and all who contributed to giving my fellow Arctic Ambassadors the experience of a lifetime that im sure will remain in all of our minds forever. I cannot wait to spread the word of all my experiences and everything I learned, like how doing the little things in conserving energy (Unplugging you computer cords, chargers, and turning off unused lights), planting tree’s, and recycling ( including buying recycled goods) can help reduce global warming if not eliminate it completely!

One last thing, I would just like to give a HUGE thank you to Carolyn and Robert Buchanan who have forever impacted my life in such a wonderful way that has forever changed me! For those of you who do not know, Betty and Jim Setti are Robert and Carolyn’s heros and life inspirations. I had once thought that I would never find someone who would be the same for me, but the moment I met Robert and Carolyn and heard their Life stories I knew that I had found just that!

Thank you all!

Molly Mariea, East Aurora, New York : Buffalo Zoological Gardens

(10-15-08) about Tuesday

Even before I heard the wake up call this morning I jumped out of my bed, laterally falling into Rachael’s bunk on my way to the bathroom to take a well needed shower. While I was in the shower I soon heard Robert Buchanan’s daily wake up call that I have discussed in many of my previous blogs. When I got out of my shower, everyone was up and getting ready for breakfast, we had to wake up extra early this morning because the helicopters would be waiting for us out on the tundra! After breakfast we all cleaned our own dishes an went to our bunks to get ready for the wonderful day that would soon be waiting for us.

We soon loaded the buggy and headed our for the point where the helicopters where scheduled to pick us up. After we got there we only waited for about fifteen minutes for the helicopters to arrive but it seemed like days due to all of our excitement! When we could see the helicopters on the horizon the buggy came to life with squeals of happiness, and amazement by their sheer speed and agility. As soon as the helicopters landed, a piolet had already came on the buggy and give us a speech about safety which only took all of five minutes. After the speech we had split up into groups and were quickly sent out to our assigned helicopters. My groups piolet was Darrel, who had been flying for 5 or 6 years. During our flight we flew over the town of Churchill and many other amazing sights, although the main purpose of our flight was to visit a polar bear den. When we arrived at the den we took turns going to take pictures and talked about the hibernation habits of female polar bears.

On our flight home from the den sight we saw many ring seals and the Boreal forest. After we unloaded from our helicopters, thanked our piolets, and re-boarded the tundra buggy, we had to hurry to make it back to the tundra buggy lodge in time for our last video conference with Rachael’s middle school.

At dinner we read poetry and ate leftovers from the whole previous week. To the surprise of the adult facilitators we had a skit planned for after dinner in which each ambassador had an adult they were going to act like, and I was to play BJ Kirschhoffer. When we preformed the skit the adults were laughing so hard that I think anyone on the tundra could hear them! After the skit we took lots of pictures and said our goodbyes to those who were not going to be coming with us to Winnipeg on Wednesday.

I apologize for the lateness of this blog (9-13-08), there has been just so much going on lately that blogging on time has been overwhelming.

As usual I woke up to Robert Buchanan singing loudly to the tune of “O What a beautiful morning” except today we all chimed and sang along Breakfast this morning was a surprising twist from our usual scrambled eggs and toast or cereal, with a choice of pancakes. After breakfast we went into the common room and were given the opportunity to see our questions for the video conference at 12:15 that we would be having with a school in Philadelphia. Of course as we looked at some of the questions we knew the answers right away, but some involved some looking into. While looking for some of the answers, sitting with everyone laughing and having a great time I remembered that this experience isn’t going to last forever. In about 3 days I’ll be back home with the new task of spreading the word of everything that I learned to friends, family, and about anyone who is willing to listen to me

Well 12:15 rolled around and time came to video conference with the Philadelphia high school students. We set up our semi-circle facing towards the camera and settled in to talk to talk to the high school juniors and Sean Broderick (a Arctic Ambassador from session one this year). At first of course everyone was nervous but then we soon understood, after a quick prep talk by Kathy Meyers and Robert Buchanan that these students were truly interested in what we had to say. The conference went well and was over within a half hour of when it began. After the video conference we had lunch and were soon met by our next presenters. Betty Seti, Jim Seti, and Parker Fitzpatrick who were here to talk to us about their ways of trapping that have been passed through the family. When the presentation was finished the c team preformed their presentation. Around 5:30 we went out near the bay to get ready for a live presentation on the Toledo NBC news and when we returned for dinner there were two large males who came near camp, and ended up fighting over the smell of hotdogs!

I would definitely say that other than the bear fight and presentations, Dave coming back to camp from his trip home was definitely a highlight of not only my day but all of my fellow ambassadors as well.

Today was definitely a wonderful experience It began with the usual wake up, “O what a beautiful morning” sang by Robert Buchanan, President of PBI. Which as usual didn’t completely wake me up it just shocked me out of sleep. But Erica screaming “Guy’s, I'm really not lying there is a HUGE bear right outside ” definitely finished the job. We were all so excited that a bear finally came to us that no one even thought about how comfy they were before the wake up call, and just darted for the door, cameras in hand barely dressed for the cool arctic air waiting out the door to greet us As I walked out the door anxious to see if there was actually a bear, my concerns were immediately erased as I noticed that there was not only a bear, he was obviously suited for the term HUGE My heart was pounding and my mind was racing with so many questions: Is this a boy or a girl? How old is it? Is it gentle? So many questions that I could not wait to hear the answer to! As I was taking a picture I felt a tug of my sleeve as I was being pulled to the nearest tundra buggy, along with Katie Billing by Robert. We were soon joined by Bill who was opening a hatch on the floor of buggy one that I had no clue to where it went. When I could see a cage and the ground, I understood that this was a picture cage and would be where I soon would be soon sitting. Before I knew it I was lying down in the cage about five feet away from the a powerful life form that could kill me with one strike with only a metal cage between us Sadly before I could get a clear shot the bear was on its way beneath the Tundra Buggy Lodge and out of my vision.
After breakfast we had Michael as a guest speaker to talk to us about Ring seals, which was really interesting to find out that the arctic ice melting would not just lead to an immediate desolation of the polar bear species but also ring seals. After Michael’s presentation we had lunch, and spent a lot of time working on and preforming our presentations on climate change. When time came for dinner everyone was excited to eat our pot roast that melted in your mouth with mashed potatoes and gravy too Dinner was a blast also because it was karaoke theme and everyone sang at least once. After dinner Tim gave a presentation on how the many countries of the world need to come together to cooperatively come to a conclusion on how to stop the effects of global warming. Tim’s speech ended at the perfect time, because the Aurora Borealis was starting to get very bright at about the same time. Everyone watched the lights for a good hour and a half and by time they were done it was time to go to your bunks Overall today was an amazing day, in which we all had new experiences that will stay in our mind forever.

Today was the second day of camp, but our first day of Tundra adventure. Today began with a wake up call, literally and figuratively! Our plane left at 6:30 AM, but we were asked to be ready in our hotel, Four Points Winnipeg Airport hotel, at 5:00 AM so that we could arrive at the airport on time. My roommate, Katie Billing, had decided that it would be a good idea to have the hotel staff give us a wake up call so we would be in the lobby on time. Receiving the wake up call this morning was a climatic event in my PBI trip, even though it was the first day! When I heard the phone ring this morning, I knew that after I answered the phone there would be no turning back, I would be “waving goodbye to my old self” as Robert Buchanan, President of PBI, would say.

We arrived at the airport fairly swiftly and were quickly assisted by the wonderful Calm Air staff. Checking in only took at most fifteen minutes, then we recited a song of application for the Calm Air personnel led by Robert, and were off to security check in, which if followed the pattern of the morning, would be fast and easy. As we walked up the stairs to our next destination, security, we were struck with the discovery that the security line was through the entire lobby. To our amazement, the line went fast, and before we knew it we were in the terminal and ready to board our plane. At 6:00 AM we received our first boarding call and preceded to the ticket counter, once again to be kindly greeted by the Calm Air staff, and boarded the plane without delay.

After our two and a half hour flight, we descended from the cloudy sky to the Churchill Airport where the weather was overcast and drizzly. Soon after landing we talked about our schedule for the day and decided that it was an opportune time for a group photo with our plane and pilot. Following the pictures we preceded into the airport to pick up our baggage and greet all of our new friends waiting to pick us up! Simon and BJ were waiting patiently, with welcoming smiles and just as much excitement about the coming events as we had. After we picked up our bags and exchanged friendly hellos, we methodically placed the luggage in the Tundra Buggy transportation bus and headed for D-20, a polar bear holding center to learn about the local polar bear behavioral processes. Next, we took a tour of Churchill and visited the Wapusk Visitor Center, Hudson Bay and the town complex. On our way to our next stop, lunch we made a democratic decision that it would be fun to check out the local working huskies and see if we could spot any bears. Luckily within five minutes of driving around the dogs we spotted two large male bears, which according to Robert Buchanan was “ a first for PBI leadership students”, and sent our hearts sailing with excitement! . After about ten minutes of watching these bears we concluded that it was time to go to Gypsy’s restaurant for lunch and then head for the Tundra Buggy headquarters to depart on our journey!

A half an hour into out two and a half hour trip to the Tundra Buggy Lodge, we spotted a group of Buggies swarming around a small area. We decided there must be something special going on to draw in all these buggies and headed in their direction. When we got a little closer we could see that there was a mother bear and her two cubs walking away from the other buggies towards us. This particular sighting was the most exciting for me because when my fellow leadership students and I were standing on the back viewing deck of the buggy, one of the cubs stood up and reached as high as he could right below us. Distracted by our new found excitement, it was time to continue our journey to the lodge. About one hour later we arrived at the lodge and unloaded our luggage to our rooms. We settled in easily and found our selves conversing with one another about how amazing our week is going to be and soon proceeded to the dinner cart where we had subs and soup! This week is going to be life altering in so many ways!

Molly Mariea, Buffalo Zoo, East Aurora, NY.